Upgrades occurring at Ure’s Country Kitchen

Ure’s Country Kitchen is celebrating their 30th anniversary with owners Randy and Laurie Ure performing upgrades to the site, specifically to the gas pumps. The regular pumps are out of commission until the week of Aug. 28 but a temporary pump has been set up on the east side of the building.

The pumps themselves are being replaced along with upgrades to wiring, underground lines and monitoring system.

“The tanks are fine,” explained Randy. “We’re not having a problem. This is to make sure we don’t have problems.”

There will also be new signage and cement installed.

“We’re going to become a branded Petroline station,” said Laurie.

Laurie and Randy Ure are having upgrades performed at their business, Ure’s Country Kitchen. Despite renovations impacting the gas pump area, the restaurant and variety store are still open for business.

The restaurant and store are still open as usual, the Ures stated. Randy said the variety of services, which also include wood, ice cream, butter tarts, pies and other amenities make them stand out.

“It’s the diversity of Malden Centre that makes us unique,” he said.

The cost to upgrade the fuel portion of the operation is approximately $175,000.

Ure’s Country Kitchen is still enthusiastic and planning to move ahead on the mini-golf course next to the building. The delay, Laurie explained, is the fact they have to file a record of site condition with the Ministry of Environment and there have been delays in obtaining that information.

“We’re still moving forward on the golf course,” said Randy. “We’re waiting for the environmental people to finish their work.”

The current plan is to begin site preparations in the fall with the hope that construction can begin in the spring of 2019. The golf course will be a “nice new challenge” for them, said Randy.

“We’re looking forward to it,” he said.

The estimated cost for the mini-golf course is over $500,000, with accessible washrooms to be added down the road as well.

Randy said the cost of gas when they bought the property 30 years ago was 47.9 cents per litre. He noted that “we need to keep up with the times” and that they are the 13th owners in the 110-year history of the property.

Ure’s Country Kitchen is located at the corner of County Road 20 and County Road 50.